Drug money eclipses oil exports in Mexico

By Jason Lange, ZAPOPAN, MexicoFri Jan 22, 2010 7:40am EST ZAPOPAN, Mexico (Reuters) – At a modern factory in a city whose main claim to fame is an image of the Virgin Mary revered for granting miracles, Mexican pharmaceuticals firm Grupo Collins churns out antibiotics and other medicines. But the United States contends that the […]

Graph of the Day: Unemployed Over 26 Weeks, 1969-2009

From Calculated Risk: The underlying details of the employment report are mostly weak. A couple of exceptions are the manufacturing diffusion index has increased significantly over the last couple of months (see below), and temporary help hiring has been strong (see previous post). Otherwise this report was grim: Average weekly earnings declined. Average weekly hours […]

Now, the Chinese bubble is set to burst

By David Barboza, The New York Times James S Chanos built one of the largest fortunes on Wall Street by foreseeing the collapse of Enron and other highflying companies whose stories were too good to be true. Now Chanos, a wealthy hedge fund investor, is working to bust the myth of the biggest conglomerate of […]

Shattered Dubai dream echoes across Mideast

Laid off workers leave ‘in tears’; remittances dry up, cutting funds to region AMMAN, Jordan – Mahmoud Tamimi’s friends call it the “Dubai syndrome” — the insatiable longing for a city he loves but was forced to leave. Back in Dubai, the 31-year-old had a good job, nice apartment and a $3,700 monthly salary, dozens […]

Video: The world’s largest dead mall

The world’s largest shopping mall, in Guangzhou, China, is almost entirely empty. If you thought Minnesota’s Mall of America was the world’s biggest shopping center, think again. South China Mall is a Vegas-like spectacle built in 2005 that now sits almost entirely empty. In the current economic climate, could this be a symbol of things […]

Half of euro zone countries at risk of sovereign default

In 2010, many nations in the currency bloc will attempt to shore up finances and sustain fitful economic recoveries By TERENCE ROTH After two years of crashing banking systems and economic recession, the euro zone enters 2010 with a full-blown debt crisis. The European Commission warns that public finances in half of the 16 euro-zone […]

The Photography of Brian Ulrich: Ghosts of Shopping Past

Interview by Nozlee Samadzadeh Landscaping overgrows, walls develop mildew, ceilings cave in—a building can be shut down, but that doesn’t make it go away. Brian Ulrich’s photographs of closed-down malls and big-box retail stores reveal the potential ghost towns lying inside successful shopping complexes all across America. Photographer Brian Ulrich lives and works in Chicago. […]

Graph of the Day: Fannie Mae Serious Delinquency Rate, Jan 1998 – October 2009

Here is the monthly Fannie Mae hockey stick graph. Fannie Mae reported today that the rate of serious delinquencies – at least 90 days behind – for conventional loans in its single-family guarantee business increased to 4.98% in October, up from 4.72% in September – and up from 1.89% in October 2008. “Includes seriously delinquent […]

Stimulus funds drill wells as California water vanishes

  By GARANCE BURKE, DOS PALOS, Calif. (AP) — The government is spending $40 million in federal stimulus funds to pull water from underground aquifers in drought-stricken California, even as evidence is growing that the well-drilling boom could degrade the quality of water delivered to millions of residents. Farmers, conservationists and engineers are criticizing the […]

Poll reveals trauma of joblessness in U.S.

By MICHAEL LUO and MEGAN THEE-BRENANPublished: December 14, 2009 More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work. Almost half have suffered from depression or anxiety. About […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial